Break Down
by coffeecoffeecoffee83
Summary: Future-fic. There's something bad going on in the Danes house.


*****Break down*****

When my Mommy got sick, Daddy stopped being my Daddy anymore. He changed.

It was a day when Babette had been watching me while they were out. Nobody had told me where they were going, but Babette had let slip that they were at the hospital. Mommy had been tired all the time, so I hoped that the doctors were going to give her some medicine to make it all better. But when they came home, they were really quiet. Daddy told Babette to go home, and then put Mommy to bed, just like he does with me. Once she was asleep, he came downstairs and kept looking around like he'd lost something. When he saw the coffee maker sitting on the counter, he got angry. He must be really strong, because he picked it up and threw it across the kitchen without even struggling. He took all of Mommy's coffee out of the cupboard, and threw it in the trash.

"Mommy's going to be mad," I told him, but he didn't seem to hear me.

After that day, they both stopped going to work. Mommy just stayed in bed all day, and for most of the time, Daddy sat in a chair next to her bed and watched her. Every couple of days, when Mommy was asleep, Daddy would lock himself in the garage, and cry. Sometimes I'd hear him yelling that it was all his fault, and he should never have opened the diner in the first place when he knew how bad the food was.

A couple of days after the day at the hospital, Daddy went through the refrigerator, and all the cupboards, and threw out all the yummy food that Mommy and I liked. He started cooking every night, instead of us going to the diner, and it was gross stuff. We had salad every night; there were no burgers or any real meat; we had fish a lot, and he would mumble about why he didn't do this earlier when it could have made a difference.

I was with him one day in the market when he got really angry, and started yelling at Mr Doose about pesticides on the vegetables. After that, Uncle Jackson started delivering our vegetables to our house. They didn't look as good as the ones from the store, though. These had holes in them, and once we found a worm inside the lettuce.

Before the day at the hospital, I walked to school with the other kids from our street. That is, unless we were late, then Mommy would drive me, sometimes stopping to get a donut from the diner on the way. Now, Daddy would walk with me to and from school every day, holding my hand really tight, and talking non-stop about all the dangerous things I had to look out for. I stopped going to dance class at Miss Patty's because Daddy said we didn't have enough money, and we both needed to be home to look after Mommy.

I know I'm not supposed to, but I liked the days that Mommy had to go to the hospital. Every Wednesday, instead of Daddy picking me up from school, Babette was there. She would take me to the diner, where Steve and Kwan's Mommy would give me a bowl of icecream and a soda. I'd sit at the counter like I used to before Mommy got sick. I'd always have to promise that I wouldn't tell Daddy though, 'cause he'd get mad. After the diner, we would go home, and play games. I could yell and do whatever I wanted, without worrying about being too loud, and waking Mommy. It was nice to feel like a normal kid again, just for one afternoon. But then, Mommy and Daddy would come home, and Daddy would carry Mommy upstairs. I would peek in their bedroom, and could see Daddy stroking Mommy's hair while she hunched over a big bowl.

One day, we got home from school, and I saw that Daddy's truck was piled with things from around the house. All the TV's were there, and the microwave, and the cordless phone – even Mommy's cellphone – were all piled up on the back of the truck. Daddy told me that they were dangerous, and he was taking them away. I cried, and begged him not to take the television away, but he wouldn't listen to me. When he drove away, I snuck up the stairs, and into their bedroom. Mommy was asleep, but I was very careful, and climbed into bed with her. I mustn't have been as quiet as I planned, because I had just gotten comfortable, when Mommy opened her eyes.

"Hey kiddo." Her voice was really quiet. She didn't really look like my Mommy. She was really white, and really thin. It looked like it hurt her to smile. Her normally long, thick hair was a lot thinner – there was always bits of it on her pillow or in the bathroom sink.

"Hey Mommy," I said. "Daddy took the TV away. Why'd he do that?"

She smiled, and pulled me closer. I could feel her bones through her pajamas. "Daddy's just being Daddy. He's scared. He always wants to fix things, but this he can't fix." She sighed. "He's just trying to protect us."

"But...."

"Don't worry, baby, when I get better, we'll get your TV back."

"And you and Daddy will play with me again?"

"Oh, baby, you can come up here and play with me whenever you want."

"Daddy says I have to let you sleep."

"Hey, when have I ever listened to what Daddy said?"

I laughed. "Never. You're the boss of Daddy."

"That's right, and don't you forget it. Now, I hear that Aunt Sookie is going to be here any minute to take you for a playdate."

"Yeah," I sighed. "But I want to stay here with you."

"Sorry, Sweetie, but Mommy has to go and get some tests done at the doctor's office. And, I think that when you get home from Aunt Sookie's, Rory will be here."

I grinned. I liked when Rory came to visit. She was coming lots and lots now. Mommy was always telling her to go back to New York, but Rory insisted that she had lots of time off. I knew better though. I would sneak around corners, and hear her talking on her phone. It sounded like someone was yelling at her, and she kept saying that her Mom was sick, and she needed to be here. If I got up in the middle of the night to get a drink, Rory would always be up, typing on her computer, long after Daddy had gone to bed.

I hugged Mommy really tight. "If I'm a really good girl, will you get better?"

Mommy started to cry. "Oh, Sugar, I'm not sick because you were naughty. It's not your fault. It just happened. But the doctors are giving me lots and lots of medicine to make me better."

I leaned in to whisper to her. "I don't think the doctors are very good, because you don't look better. You look worse."

She started to laugh, but it turned into a cough, proving my point. "Honey, it's going to get worse before it gets better. But it is working."

"Okay." I wasn't sure if I should believe her.

Just then we heard footsteps on the stairs, and Aunt Sookie's voice. She poked her head in the door. "There are my two favorite Danes'."

"Hey, Sook," Mommy called, patting the bed next to us. Aunty Sookie came and sat next to us.

"So, cupcake," she said to me. "You ready to come play with us? Richie is really looking forward to seeing you again – Martha too."

"But not Davey," I told her.

"I think Davey thinks he's too grown up to be playing with elementary school kids, now," she laughed. "Now, go get you coat. We're going to make pizzas and sundaes."

I started to get excited, but then looked at Mommy. "Of course you can," she told me. "Just don't tell Daddy."

I gave Mommy a big hug, and ran out the door. I stopped in the hallway to listen to the grown ups talking for a minute.

"Sook," Mommy said, "you'll look after her if I..."

"Not going to happen," Aunty Sookie interrupted. "There's no way Luke would let anything happen to either of you. Don't worry – the results will be good."

I wandered downstairs to get my coat, confused. I had no idea what Mommy was worrying was going to happen. But she sounded scared. I decided I would ask Daddy or Rory later.

I didn't get the chance though. When I got home from Aunty Sookie's, it was to a very different house than the one I had left. Mommy wasn't in her bed – she had moved all her pillows and blankets onto the couch in the living room. She looked happy – but still tired. Rory and Daddy were happy too. They were drinking out of the grown up glasses something fizzy. It had been a very long time since I had seen Daddy smiling, and this made me very happy.

"Sookie," Rory squealed when we walked in. "It's good! Two more sessions, but it's just to be sure." Aunty Sookie ran across the room and hugged Rory and both of them started jumping up and down. I wanted to dance too, so I grabbed Rory around her hips and started jumping too. She twirled around, scooping me up into her arms.

"Hey kiddo! Mommy's getting better!"

I turned to Mommy to make sure that Rory wasn't lying. Rory is good at tricking me – she made me believe that there were fairies living in our backyard for ages. Now that I'm a big school girl, I know that's not true. Mommy smiled and nodded at me, and I wriggled out of Rory's arms and ran to her.

"Careful," Daddy warned.

"It's fine," Mommy told him. I crawled on top of her, and lay down, my head on her shoulder.

"Does this mean we can have the TV back?" I asked Mommy quietly.

We both looked at Daddy, who had a scowl on his face. "I'm sure we can convince Daddy to give it back," she whispered to me. "Then we can have lots and lots of movie nights like we used to."

"With Daddy and Rory, too?"

"Well, it wouldn't be a movie night without them, would it?"

"Can we have popcorn?" I asked.

"Plain popcorn," Daddy grumbled. "Nothing that's been anywhere near butter, or salt, or sugar..."

Mommy just laughed at Daddy.

After Aunt Sookie had left, Rory went into the kitchen to work on her computer. Daddy came and joined me and Mommy on the couch. He lifted Mommy up gently so she was leaning against him, and pulled me into his lap.

"Are you okay, Daddy?" I asked him.

He hesitated, looking between me and Mommy. "Yeah, we'll get there. But both of you are going to be the healthiest eaters in Connecticut. No arguments."

"Sure, honey," Mommy told him. I frowned dramatically at her. She looked at me, smiling. "We'll do whatever makes you happy."

Later that night, when I was saying goodnight to Mommy, I leaned in to her. "Do we not get any more icecream?" I whispered.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," she whispered back.


End file.
